Touch. Then, go ...
~ momentum, meaning, and what’s next
Note to reader: I don’t fly planes. The aviation references here are deliberate. This is no typical seize-the-day epiphany, nor a forecast of the year ahead. Some plans are still in motion, others haven’t appeared. I aim to capture momentum and optimism without cliché, while recognizing the challenge of balancing personal goals with bigger, world-facing ambitions in a short column, so please indulge me …
Tomorrow is my birthday.
I’m not parking this plane.
Not a stop or layover, no luggage coming off, no refuelling break. Just a brief touch of the runway before lifting off again and continuing the flight.
In aviation training, a “touch and go” is a repeated exercise in takeoffs and landings when wheels kiss the runway, the engine stays alive, the pilot pushes forward, and the plane is airborne again in seconds.
I see birthdays as simply that.
Tomorrow marks the completion of my 74th trip around the sun and the immediate launch into my 75th lap. A moment, notice the milestone, then back to full throttle.
No extended down/ground time. No lingering in a terminal. Just fly on …
I have vivid lingering memories of 5th, 7th, and 50th; those I’ll never forget. Most birthdays are just another page flipped …
I can’t ignore or forget the year just passed, though parts of it I’d gladly purge. It was rich, messy-filled and bombarded with the unexpected and more do-do than I care to dwell upon. Birthdays aren’t about regret or wishing for do-overs; they’re a turnstile, a reminder that life is all about forward momentum.
Some dreams are modest, lowering a golf handicap, laughing more often, finishing my book, completing some big deal or ambitious project.
Others, larger, requiring focus and sustained drive: finding the BHAG that will matter most, the work that will carry a label like my best or the meaning and value of my life.
I’ve always wanted to make a difference somewhere, somehow, in a way that lasts beyond my flight plan. I know I have energy. I believe I have the time.
The truth is, we don’t get to hover over our legacy and listen to the post-flight chatter; I won’t get to attend my wake or watch dirt being shovelled atop the lid on my box.
We get one seat.
One set of controls and a limited number of takeoffs.
The rest is flying as best we can with the fuel we’ve got.
Touch and go-es don’t mean we’re grounded or without a flight plan; they confirm we’re still up in the air.
Birthdays are runway markers.
Sustained flight is the point.
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I've always been aware of my birthdays and more so after hitting what people used to say was the end of your working life ( 65 ) . BUT after that year when the common assumption was " you're out to pasture" I stopped publicly acknowledging my birthdays and made them a private affair. My belief is to continue providing value to growing myself , community and to those I support through my business!
To you Mark, and early Happy Birthday Wish and an acknowledgement we do share a desire to be a CONTRIBUTOR to ourselves and community.